At the Bottom of Everything (Paperback)

Description

It's been ages since the "incident" that estranged former best friends Adam and Thomas, and Adam has long since decided he's better off, even if his own life hasn't exactly turned out as planned. Ten years after the two friends spoke their last words, Adam is working as a tutor, sleeping with the mother of a student, and spending most of his nights looking up his ex-girlfriend on Facebook. But when he receives an email from Thomas's mother begging for his help, he finds himself drawn back into his old friend's world. Thomas hasn't been doing well, and now he's disappeared while traveling in India. As Adam embarks upon a magnificently strange and unlikely journey, Ben Dolnick unspools a tale of friendship, spiritual reckoning, and redemption.

About the Author

Ben Dolnick was born in 1982 and grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He graduated from Columbia University, where he studied English and writing. He has worked as a zookeeper at the Central Park Zoo, a bookseller, a research assistant in an immunology lab, and a tutor. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. "Zoology" is his first novel.

Praise For…

Praise for At the Bottom of Everything

“Ben Dolnick’s first two novels . . . were intelligent, amiable books, about the coming-of-age of middle-class male protagonists. They were warmhearted and strikingly perceptive about their heroes’ feelings . . . . Dolnick has retained his strengths—his sensitive gauge for emotional states and his empathy—but his writing is more taut, more piquant, not only observant but wry in its depiction of human fallibility. The result is a lively, often funny book about being young and smart and confused, fumbling through life in a middle-class American sort of way . . . . Dolnick nails the casual brutality with which teenagers drop people they were once close to . . . . Dolnick narrates with a deft comic touch . . . . There is a lifelike complexity to the way it all plays out . . . . In this slim, surprisingly haunting book, Dolnick reminds us that part of being a healthy and functional human is a willingness to act a little bit selfish, a little cruel in our ability to walk away from the pain of others.”—Adelle Waldman, New York Times Book Review

“Terrific, seemingly effortless . . . . Dolnick's prose has abundant charm, humor, and intelligence, a knack for vivid details and stunning metaphors, and so many richly imagined characters that it calls to mind an updated Fitzgerald.”—James Hannaham, Village Voice

“The characters in Ben Dolnick’s new novel, At the Bottom of Everything . . . have a trauma in their shared past—not that friendships need a reason to disintegrate—but that’s almost besides the point. The best parts of this novel involve watching the effect of this distance on its two eccentric and well-drawn characters. They’re a bit reminiscent of Martin Amis types in that they are both intelligent and flawed—the sort of combination that makes you want to hop on their backs and see where the story takes them.”—Dan Duray, The Observer

“[E]xpertly magnifies the minutiae of youth, loneliness, and a friendship gone wrong . . . Dolnick’s insights into life’s bleaker spells are wise and entertaining, making for an invigorating and transcendent reminder of how haunting old friendships can be.”—Jonathan Fullmer, Booklist

“An engrossing, often wrenching novel about the limits of love and friendship, not to mention self-knowledge. Dolnick writes with wisdom, humor, and real grace.” —Sam Lipsyte,author of Home Land and The Fun Parts“Dolnick writes with the assurance and wisdom of an author twice his age. At the Bottom of Everything turns a story about a childhood friendship into a moving exploration of the deepest questions life offers. This book does something more important than depict the ‘way we live now.’ It asks whether the way we live now is really ‘living’ at all.”—Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver“A remarkable story about the enduring nature of childhood friendship and the burdens that such a friendship can impose on a person regardless of age or will. It’s a clear-eyed, unwavering look into the nature of guilt and the ways in which a split-second decision can change the lives of people forever. I found myself both breathlessly racing to the end of the book and also terrified to turn the final pages. It is one of those stories that will remain in my mind and heart for a long, long time.” —Matthew Dicks, author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

"An unlikely friendship develops between the uptight, brilliant Thomas and the easygoing Adam . . . [Dolnick] conjures the memory of familiar movies and books like Lucas and A Separate Peace."—Cameron Martin, The Daily Beast

"A bighearted story about friendship and forgiveness, At the Bottom of Everything is an engaging novel brimming over with humor and sympathetic characters."—Michael David Lukas, San Francisco ChroniclePraise for Ben Dolnick“Dolnick is a writer of incredible sensitivity.”—Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close“Dolnick writes with a maturity that belies his years . . . distinguished by a rare combination of narrative patience and instinctive kindness.” —George Saunders, author of Tenth of December